So the speculation has already begun, even before the Wii’s successor has been officially announced. And it’s not just at MadBid.com, some key executives at Nintendo, in various interviews, have often confirmed it is in development.

Way back in November 2006 Wii was the first console of the current generation to offer motion-controlled gameplay. Due to the relatively low price and Nintendo targeting the family orientated market, the Wii took an early lead in the battle of the consoles soon after it launched – with the company selling 20m units in the first year.

But Wii sales have been declining recently, in the financial year 2009/10 Nintendo still shipped 20.1m Wii consoles, but that fell to 15.1m in 2010/11.

This fall might be due to the introduction of the Xbox Kinect and the PlayStation move. Both bring motion-controlled gameplay to the other platforms and with their advanced graphics this gives them an edge over the Wii.

Market data suggests that Wii’s share of new console sales have now slipped to second place behind Sony’s PS3

“In the first three months of 2011, PS3 held a 36% share, compared with 32% for the Wii and 31% for XBox 360.” BBC suggests

So speculation has started on the next generation of Nintendo consoles. It is expected that there will be a preview at the E3 Expo in Los Angeles in June, and a release some time in 2012 – this certainly fits in with the Nintendo release timeline as consoles are released on average every 5 years (see image) – but everything is being kept quiet for now.

Edge magazine claims that some of the big publishers such as EA, Ubisoft and Activision have already had development kits ‘for months’. It has also been suggested that the console may even have a different name in a bid to appeal more to Western audiences – with the consoles codename currently being ‘Project Café’.

Speculation as to what the new console might have includes:

• The controller:
  • Screen on the controller – perhaps touch-screen like the DS. The screen might be HD and could be as big as 6”
  • Extra game content can be seen on the supposed controllers screen (such as maps, your possessions, text/speech that replicates what’s on screen and using the touch-screen you can respond, mini games)
  • The controller might even operate as a second console – like a simplified DS
  • It’s suggested that there might be a camera to help with interaction
  • The controller will be more sensitive , with accurate mapping of movements
• It is hoped it will be backwards compatible, so that users can play existing shop bought and downloaded games
• It should hopefully be more powerful than the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3
• There might even be a chance for 3D technology as Nintendo have already embraced this in their handheld 3DS
• Some say that it will be just an update of the current Wii with perhaps HD – but at MadBid.com we feel that is unlikely – as Nintendo seem to want to break the mould with each new release that they do.

Whatever Nintendo come out with is bound to be interesting – they seem to be willing to push the boundaries. We’re hoping for something a bit different and whatever it is we’re bound to be selling it on MadBid.com as we’re currently selling the other up to date consoles such as the Nintendo 3DS, Ltd Wii Black + Sports, Sony PS3 & Xbox 360 with Kinect.

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